Bafana fail in AFCON bid

Nelspruit - South Africa missed out on qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals after playing to a goalless draw with Sierra Leone at the Mbombela Stadium here on Saturday afternoon.

Though outgoing African champions Egypt defeated group leaders Niger 3-0 in Cairo, the combination of results was not enough to send South Africa through.

Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone all ended on nine points, but Niger claimed the most points from a ‘mini-league’ between the three teams, meaning they advance as group winners and will play in the AFCON finals for the first time in their history.

Sierra Leone started the match strongly and were the better team in the opening quarter hour, with strikers Tetteh Bangura and Mohamed Bangura proving a handful for South Africa’s defence.

Bafana Bafana gradually took a stranglehold in midfield and began to dominate possession, but they were unable to really stretch the well-organised Leone Stars backline.

The visitors’ goalkeeper Christian Caulker had only one save of any significance to make in the first half, smothering Katlego Mphela’s dipping free kick five minutes before the break.

As for Itumeleng Khune, he had a couple of nervy moments from corner kicks and crosses by Sierra Leone’s wingers, but otherwise he was well protected by the likes of Morgan Gould and Siyabonga Sangweni.

The West Africans were the first to threaten a goal in the second half, with central defender Mohamed Kamara heading just wide of goal from a corner kick ten minutes after the restart.

Just past the hour mark Siphiwe Tshabalala had a chance to put Bafana Bafana ahead but he shot wide of the target after breaking into space in the ‘D’ of the penalty area.

By this stage Egypt were 2-0 up against Niger in Cairo and South Africa believed they were on course to top the group, but Sierra Leone gave warning of their danger in the 72nd minute with a swerving shot from Sheriff Suma that forced a splendid save from Khune.

Sierra Leone’s Caulker was also tested from long range, punching away a fierce Tshabalala free kick on 83 minutes. At this stage the game was very much in the balance - with Niger now 3-0 down in Cairo, Bafana thought they only needed to hang onto the draw, while a goal for the Leone Stars would have seen them through.

In the end the match ended 0-0 and South Africa’s players celebrated at the final whistle, mistakenly believing they had qualified for 2012.

Comments

HagenDan - 2011-10-08 19:46

Wow...see this is why it would've been nice if Khune hadn't done the whole diving act and we'd played our hearts out to win this thing. Disgraceful.

Andy49 - 2011-10-08 20:08

Khune should be cited (if they have such a post match review system for football) his disgusting behaviour, he then has the audacity to gesticulate to the spectators that he was time wasting. Glad that it has now backfired on him & the rest of Bafoona Bafoona.

meelo - 2011-10-08 20:50

hahahaha did you see the celebration at the end.
These guys practice the celebration instead of scoring goals

Daw57 - 2011-10-08 20:53

I agree! And the worst of it all is that the management should have known the rules of the competition by heart. If you go to Wikipedia, it has a page called "2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification", where it gives a table with the precise points that the teams would have had in case of a draw. Niger 6, South Africa 5. Clear as daylight. The coach and his staff should have gone for a win, regardless of the rules, because then we would have qualified. But how on earth did they not know the different permutations, and why haven't they worked out all the "What if?" scenarios BEFORE the game? Total ignorance, that's what. And they could even have used Wikipedia for the correct rules and the relevant table. I did - and it took me all of two minutes to find the information.

Fakmore - 2011-10-08 21:03

Khune..a true South African Hero...like Tutu and de Klerk!!!

Saffa Girl - 2011-10-08 21:33

@Daw I checked Wikipedia as well, the rules and points are all there, nobody could miss that. Who in SAFA did not know the rules of the game, cant believe Bafana were celebrating thinking they made it!!!

proudandpink - 2011-10-08 22:40

@Rendiergouws ~ Spot on! During the World Cup all we heard about was that they lost because the 'white' coach didn't understand the way they play. Now they've got a black coach and he quite obviously doesn't understand the rules. What a laugh, but praise is needed because after all they've fully transformed the sokkah team! In fact they've over-transformed it so I hope the soccer fraternity is really proud of their 'achievements'.

Manu - 2011-10-08 19:46

Thanks for getting the right story this time...it is a shame for the South African people but that it is the law of the sport.

HagenDan - 2011-10-08 19:50

How the flying **** did our staff and players not know the law of the sport though? What a joke. Bokke better pull through tomorrow or this will be a very bad SA sporting weekend...

za101 - 2011-10-08 20:29

after 100 million rand for a brazillian coach, world cup stadiums, a world cup ....and bafana bafana cant get to African Cup of Nations.
South Africa is richest country in Africa. We got 10 times the population of Niger, yet we cant qualify. Disgraceful
And ANC is more worried about transformation in other sports. There is so much of transformation and MONEY in football, yet there are no results.

Mahmoud.Ibrahim.AlRefaei - 2011-10-08 22:06

You didn't make use of our WIN, sorry for you
the next CAN without:
Us (Egypt),Cameroon, You (RSA), Nigeria, Algeria
[Unbelievable]

corro51 - 2011-10-08 19:49

Sounds a bit like the CWC 2003 again...

Jousa van Dyk - 2011-10-08 19:56

at least we qualified for that haha

Rawter - 2011-10-08 19:55

are you sure about this because on Supersport it says we qualified and it shows Bafana Bafana on top of the log in our division after the 6 games?

sbn - 2011-10-08 20:25

to me it looks like we've qualifed. If u look at 5 games played on Caf's website before today's results we were no2 ,with today's game we should be on top with goal diff , unless if its otherwise confirmed by Caf

slg - 2011-10-08 19:57

This is unacceptable for a country with SA's resources and talent, but sadly reflective of the mediocrity in the mindset of our BE governors

Essack - 2011-10-08 19:59

Idiots! How can the technical team not know the rules? And Khune was faking injury and cheating to waste time. Thank god my 9 year old did not watch this disgraceful show!

raspatin - 2011-10-08 20:01

@ Rawta call them and tell them ,please call also SAFA president and Pitso as her are still delusional ...my grandma can play better than these girls .

kndobe - 2011-10-08 20:08

Bafana fail to qualify again, the players should've gone for a goal instead of wasting all that time faking injuries

Angelo - 2011-10-08 20:08

my granny can play better realy ..

DeltaBravo - 2011-10-08 21:00

She must be English then, PS. I challenge you to name me one football team more of an embarrassment to their country than Bafana.

ChumScrubber - 2011-10-09 11:51

France?

Sheriffff - 2011-10-08 20:20

well at least we still have the bokke . . . .better luck next time boys! love ya!!

Thabani - 2011-10-08 20:24

I was even surprised to hear all the so called soccer experts saying SA has qualified. It goes on to show lack of knowledge. Misleading the nation like that. Pitso was right right so say i dont know if we had qualified. He new the truth and thanks to Khune for time wasting. The rules for tie teams was made clear by caf as follows when the draw was conducted.
The order of tie-breakers used when two or more team have the equal number of points is:]
1.Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2.Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3.Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4.Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
5.Goal difference in all games;
6.Goals scored in all games;
7.Drawing of lots.
Please analysts, you have let us down. This shows how dull we are as a nation, which doesn't know the rules of the tournaments.

wjdladla - 2011-10-08 20:32

Thabani kindly apply for a job with one of the sports channels. You sound knowledgeble!

Saffa Girl - 2011-10-08 20:41

@wjdladla, he should, he seems to know more about the rules of the game than anyone else.

they deserve not going through,what a disgrace of our goal keeper to fake his injury and still be able to dance after the match,that's what you get for unsportsmanlike behavior.the idiot just wasted time,bloody fool.

Bs Mnguni - 2011-10-08 20:32

Its about tyme Pitso takes a bow and leave the centre stage with his tail between his legs if he indeed loves to see the growth of football.

Saffa Girl - 2011-10-08 20:35

Supersport reports that Bafana are through, News24 reports that we did not make it, which is which here.

Mabhulwana - 2011-10-08 22:34

They are part of the idiocy that has gripped this country. Do not believe them.

marco - 2011-10-08 20:37

The ANC is falling to pieces bigtime.Black South Africans with a bad attitude(the ones in GOVERNMENT primarily) are the real embarrassment to our country and that gets reflected here today in their most prized black dominated sporting code-FOOTBALL.They were embarrass last year at the FIFA Worldcup by being the first host nation that failed to make into the knockout stages and please remind me again how many times did Banana Banana not make it out from the GROUP STAGES in this bull**** thing called the African Cup of Nations.

shrink - 2011-10-08 20:42

safa owes the sangoma remember?????

Richie - 2011-10-08 20:49

Sorry Boys ..but please just score goals.... you seem to approach all games with a defending to the end aproach .well .....Good luck next time

Edgar - 2011-10-08 20:51

Khune was stupid to do time wasting he has cost the whole population with his stupid antics

joubert.joep - 2011-10-08 20:54

Did anybody expect them to qualify???????????

Mekgwe - 2011-10-08 20:58

another disgrace for African football,

lesley netshiavhela - 2011-10-08 21:09

With the way we are playing and dumb couch not making decision on time, that what you get!! Pitso should have realize that before the fast half. He does not deserve to lead our national team. And the whole team is full stupid management and players. I hate them and I wish I can through them to hell.

sniperman - 2011-10-09 10:30

What's wrong with Pitso? Rugby has Peter de Villiers. No difference!!

kndobe - 2011-10-08 21:23

I feel sorry for the players after doing the Bokke Jive thinking we had qualified.. lol

Saidi Saleh - 2011-10-08 21:28

It's unbelievable that bafana can't qualify for the African cup, not even the world cup

Fakmore - 2011-10-08 21:30

THEY DONT CALL THEM BAFFOONA BAFFOONA FOR NOTHING....these morons..celebrating defeat.

Thabani - 2011-10-08 21:41

How can our players and everyone celebrate a defeat. I wonder if there is a new meaning for the word patriotism in SA. Good luck Bafana in 2013. I hope we have leant a lesson as a nation. What is so painful is about the resources we have here and infrastructure, yet some very poor countries are doing good for their countries despite lack of resources. Maybe money is not everything. Our players are not competitive enough to make us proud like the team of 1996. Maybe i am just too emotional.

BardofAvon - 2011-10-08 21:50

Where is Clive Barker? Didn't SA do relatively well when he was the coach?

Fakmore - 2011-10-08 21:56

And England won the Football World Cup in 1966...who was the coach then...lets hire him...

Samurai Demo - 2011-10-08 21:54

MORE WHITE OUS NEEDED!

Dj-Mbizo - 2011-10-08 22:05

dat guy pitso got a brown envelope from niger, he ddnt hav a winning mentality, he was over-acting. he clearly knew the rule. hw can u play with 7 defenders nd expect to win?

xozaness - 2011-10-08 22:23

Bafana did qualify...CAF just changed the rules after the game!

Mabhulwana - 2011-10-08 22:23

Where else does this kind of mini-league thingy apply. Methinks we watch a lot of European football and surely they do not use this "advanced" set of rules. As for the SAFA people and the analysts not knowing the rules of the game according to CAF, is shameful to say the least. At least the officials should have known the rules.

Brighton - 2011-10-08 22:24

Just like the Proteas and the Duck-Worth Lewis rule the other day in Cricket World Cup, lack of technical astituteness fails South Africa again. The Bafana technical team (Pityso included) should have studied the rules and been well informed instead of displaying ignorance to the whole world like what happened in Nelspruit today.

Sarel Ras - 2011-10-08 22:25

If you want to qualify for afcon make sure if you a non french speaking you end with more point than a french speaking country because caf will make sure that a french will go through. caf hates the African countries that has English as a official language

shrink - 2011-10-09 07:07

is that one of those conspiracy theories doing rounds?????

R.Suppards - 2011-10-08 22:32

How do you say "WANKERS" in any African language? = Bafana Bafana GO!! Bafanya ,GO!!
Show these so called,"GUYS" how it's done.

Armed - 2011-10-08 22:37

"...and South Africa’s players celebrated at the final whistle, mistakenly believing they had qualified for 2012" - EPIC FAIL!!! Also, how the hell can we not qualify for the AFCON??? Whats next? Swaziland overthrowing our government?

onur1925 - 2011-10-08 22:40

If only he gave a chance to Bradley Grobler...

Peter - 2011-10-08 22:48

Khune should have been red-carded and suspended for a year or more. As a South African, I was more than embarrassed and ashamed. What the hell was he doing? Trying to make sure we did not qualify? Bafana deserved EXACTLY what they got. Was this the coach's doing?

Vince - 2011-10-09 00:02

Pitso Please Resign

chisomo kumbuyo - 2011-10-09 04:01

glad the boys have been put at their proper place, these clowns did not deserve to qualify

Boerseun - 2011-10-09 08:43

OOOppss another failure...

Neville - 2011-10-09 09:13

Bafana bafana to BLACK PERIOD

Tups - 2011-10-09 09:59

Guys lets keep racism out of sport, period.

sniperman - 2011-10-09 10:36

Whilst the ANC is in power racism will crop up everywhere. Get rid of the ANC and the Boeremag and racism will fade away.

steve - 2011-10-09 10:22

Disgraceful display by the keeper, what was the idiot trying to prove? Professional sports do not need such an embarrasing performance by a sham artist of the highest order. If that is the mentality in the camp then they deserve what they got, an absolute disgrace to sport in SA, I hope he never plays again. And I wonder if he was instructed to do so by the management team, if so what a shambles. The ref should have sent him off. And then the dancing and heel kicking after the whistle, words cannot express my contempt for his antics.

popaai - 2011-10-09 10:25

Did you guys really expect something else?

Hilberry - 2011-10-09 10:47

The coach cannot cry now. He above all people should know the rules of the games and how the points system works. No excuses.
Also the goal keeper of SA should be fined or banned from playing again, due to his purposeful time wasting. He was not injured at all, because he was seen jumping around after the final whistle. Serves them right for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Honestly - 2011-10-09 11:24

Bobjane, Bobjane

Utopian - 2011-10-09 13:01

Proof again (as if proof was needed) that money does not necessarily equate ability.

K1d - 2011-10-09 13:02

bafana FAIL full stop-period. They're nearly as baddd as the overpaid bloody english football team; no passion, except for $.

Charger - 2011-10-09 20:43

Thats what you get when relying on mathematical equations instead of playing your heart out to win .Serves them right cos tantrum throwing coaches and players who is unable to score dont deserve to be in afcon 2012.

rimmoah - 2011-10-10 00:13

bafana are useless and always will be,nobody wants to play for them,there is no pride playing for bafana.even banyana are better and have more pride

Elvis Matlad - 2011-10-10 08:54

Eish....Bafana coach must be thoroughly taught the CAF regulations and consequences of drawing and scoring. The SABC sport personnel is also obviously not well informed. I wonder what Pitso told them before the match and during half-time, "Boys..... you must defend.....defend very hard.........so we qualify to the finals". NO NO NO! But I think this job is too heavy for Pitso, but because South Africa is too forgiving,we forgive him and hope he will adapt.Hard luck Bafana, Hard Luck.Next time 'Matsatsi gaa hlabe ka go swana'. Am out!